The United States’ envoy to the Middle East might have misunderstood Vladimir Putin’s conditions for concluding Russia’s conflict in Ukraine while attempting to arrange a meeting with President Trump, as per media outlets.
Steve Witkoff had a three-hour discussion with the Russian leader at the Kremlin on Wednesday, after which Trump commended his envoy for achieving ‘significant progress’.
Nonetheless, according to the German publication BILD, Witkoff believed that when Putin called for a ‘peaceful withdrawal’ from Kherson and Zaporizhia, it implied the withdrawal of Russian troops.
According to insiders, Putin actually meant he wanted Ukrainian forces to give up these tactically important cities.
‘Witkoff doesn’t know what he’s talking about,’ a Ukrainian official told BILD.
Reports indicate that Russia remains steadfast in its insistence on control over the Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kherson, and Crimea.
This development follows Trump’s official setting of Friday, August 15, as the date for his meeting with Putin in Alaska to negotiate a resolution to the conflict, which has persisted for over three and a half years. It will mark Putin’s first visit to the US in ten years.
‘It’s complex, nothing simple,’ Trump mentioned to journalists prior to the announcement. ‘It’s very complex, but we’re going to reclaim some and make some changes.’
A report claims that Steve Witkoff, US special envoy to the Middle East, misinterpreted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intentions in eastern Ukraine
It comes as President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Putin on Friday August 15 in Alaska
On the day Trump confirmed he and Putin would be meeting, two people were killed in a Russian strike on a civilian bus in Kherson and two others were killed in a Russian FPV drone strike on a car.
Once news of Trump-Putin summit emerged, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that ‘decisions without Ukraine’ would not bring peace to the region.
Writing on social media the Ukrainian President said: ‘Any decisions against us, any decisions without Ukraine, are also decisions against peace. They will achieve nothing.
‘Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.’
He said Ukraine was ‘ready for real decisions that can bring peace’ but said it should be a ‘dignified peace’, without giving details.
After Zelensky’s comments it emerged that the White House is considering inviting him to Alaska.
A senior US official told NBC News that an invite to Zelensky is ‘being discussed’.
His presence hasn’t been finalized, but the prospect of him showing up is ‘absolutely’ possible, the official said.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky could be invited to the Alaska meeting, according to a senior US offical
Trump has long wanted to end the war in Ukraine, often promising on the campaign trail last year that he would end the conflict on day one of his presidency if he were elected
‘The President remains open to a trilateral summit with both leaders. Right now, the White House is focusing on planning the bilateral meeting requested by President Putin, the White House said in a statement to NBC.
Trump has long wanted to end the war in Ukraine, often promising on the campaign trail last year that he would end the conflict on day one of his presidency if he were elected.
Trump’s frustration with Putin has grown as the fighting has worn on months into his second term.
In late Jul, he began to turn the heat up on Russia, saying he was giving the country 10 or 12 days to restart peace talks with Ukraine.
If that condition was not met, he said he was prepared to hit Russia with economic sanctions.
Originally, Trump gave Putin a 50-day deadline and threatened to bring stiff economic penalties on Russia if it did not end hostilities with Ukraine. That would’ve meant a target date of early September for Putin to make a decision.
